Polyvalent kit made from interadaptable and interchangeable elements, in particular for medical use



Oct. 16, 1962 L. MORIN ETAL 3,058,579

POLYVALENT KIT MADE FROM INTERADAPTABLE AND INTERCHANGEABLE ELEMENTS, IN PARTICULAR FOR MEDICAL USE Filed May 31, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR'S Lionel Norm Jac ues Rob/n B VMW ATTORNEYS 3,058,579 POLYVALENT KIT MADE FRGM INTERADT- ABLE KNTERtJHANGEABLE ELEMENTS, IN PARTICULAR FDR MEDICAL USE Lionel Morin and Jacques Robin, both of 7 Rue Esparvier, Ussei, Correze, France Filed May 31, 1960, Ser. No. 32,844 Claims priority, application France June 3, W59

Claims. (Cl. 206-12) All the members of the medical corps having to move about for giving medical advices or practising surgical operations must in most cases carry a certain number of objects, instruments, products or apparatus having a very variable nature according on the one hand to their branches and on the other hand to the nature of advices or treatments for which they are intended. Generally, said objects are chosen at the last moment and are piled in bulk into a bag, portfolio or suit-case, which may deteriorate such objects during transportation, in addition to errors or omissions when choosing the same. Moreover, those objects which do not possess their own individual sterilized and tight package or container must usually be cleaned or sterilized again at the time of use thereof, which is time consuming and hence may lead to serious consequences.

The present invention has for its object to provide a polyvalent kit, in particular for medical use, essentially characterized by the fact that said kit is constituted by interadaptable and interchangeable elements which may be grouped into variable numbers so as to constitute an easily transportable unit having preferably the shape of a suit-case.

Each of said elements contains all the objects, instruments, products or apparatus corresponding to a given kind of medical care or treatment, each of said objects being carefully blocked in its place, while allowing to be manually caught very easily without disturbing anything. Moreover, each of said elements is sufficiently sealed to keep its contents in good condition.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which may be entirely made from a plastic material, the recited elements have a prism-like configuration and may be opened either along a diagonally extending plane as for the elements intended to be disposed near the edges of the kit or along one face as for the elements intended to be centrally disposed in the kit. The assembly of the elements is effected by means of dove-tail slideways or any known connecting means. Keeping the objects in place, in particular the cylindrical ones, is obtained through the resiliency of semi-flexible members made, for example from a molded or extruded vinyl compound or polyamide, or from some shaped sponge material, having the configuration of a split tube length, such members being fixed either upon the internal walls of the element, or upon moving partitions, or upon a rotatable drum capable to contain also a cylindrical drawer in the central area thereof. Maintaining certain objects, in particular parallelepipedshaped objects, is also obtained by means of thin strips, made from a vinyl compound for example, which are fixed to the wall and surround tightly these objects; the ends of said strips are superposed and insure through a mere surface tension the anchorage of said objects. Finally, as an essential feature of the present invention the medical lighting device (of the Clar mirror type or similar type) is blocked against a light transparent portion of the walls, so that one is able to use also such device during the way for illuminating the dark areas.

In order that the object of the present invention be better understood, there will be now described in an illustrative and by no means limitative manner an embodiment 3,658,579 Patented Oct. 16, 1962 thereof as an example and represented in the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a unit in a closed condition, according to the present invention and comprising a median element between two flanking or edge elements;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the unit shown in FIG. 1 represented in an open condition in view of the use thereof (the cover of the median element being omitted);

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another unit in a closed condition comprising only two edge elements;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the unit in FIG. 3 shown in an open condition ready for use;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken from the plane VV in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the unit in FIG. 1 in a transportation condition;

FIG. 7 is a detailed view in perspective showing sliding splints.

There is shown in FIG. 1 a unit constituted by two edge elements 1 and 2 flanking respectively a central element 3. Element 1 is made in two parts 4 and 5 pivotably connected one to the other by hinges 6 which allow the prism-like element 1 to be opened along a diagonally extending plane. In a similar manner, element 2 is made in two parts 7 and 8 pivotally connected together also by hinges 6. Element 3 comprises a body 9 having a parallelepiped-shaped configuration and a cover 1%.

It may be seen in particular in FIG. 5 that the face 11 of the part 4 as well as the face 13 of the part 9 comprise the female portion of a dove-tail slideway, while the face 12 of the part 9 and the face 14 of the part 7 comprise the male corresponding portion of said dove-tail slideway. It is thus possible to separate the three elements 1, 2 and 3 one from another by sliding the same one relative to the other along these slideways and to assemble again the elements 1 and 2 with another element 3 which is diiferent from the previous one but is interchangeable therewith. It is also possible to assemble the elements 1 and 2 directly one with the other so as to realize that unit shown in FIG. 3.

It may be seen particularly in FIG. 1 that, in order to fix the above-mentioned unit, the pant 4 and the part 9 become interlocked against any relative sliding motion by a prism-shaped member 15 slidingly supported in a slideway 16 provided on the part 9, as well as in a slideway member 17 provided on the part 4. In a similar manner the sliding motion of the part 7 relative to the part 9 is hindered by a prism-shaped member 18 slidingly supported in the same slideway 16 and in a slideway member 19 made integral with the part 7. Moreover, a transport handle 20 is slidably mounted by the base thereof in slideway 16. Finally, a knurled knob 21 is provided with a finger 22 which has a cam-like shape and is adapted to push the prism member 18, which in turn pushes handle 20, Which in turn pushes the prism member 15 which comes into a abutting relationship with the bottom of slideway 17. The unit becomes thus interlocked. When it is desired to disassemble the. unit, one frees the finger 22 by rotating knob 21. It is then possible to slide the members 15, 2t) and 18 rightwardly, so that the prism member 15 clears the slideway 17. The element 1 may be then removed by sliding the same rearwardly. By sliding then members 15, 2t and 18 leftwardly, so that the prism member 18 clears the slideway member 19, the element 2 may be removed by sliding the same forwardly.

In the case where exist only two of said elements, as shown in FIG. 3, the prism members 15 and 18 are eliminated and the same handle 20 is moved to slide into the slideway members 17 and 19 in the same manner.

In order to obtain the interlocking of part 5 on part 4 and of part 8 on part 7, there may be used in the case of three elements the sliding of cover 10 which is the final member gliding between parts and 3 (as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1), or alternatively there may be used in the case of two elements the sliding of part 5 relative to part 8 (as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 3).

According to the present invention, various objects, in particular those having a cylindrical shape, may be fixed in place by means of resilient members, such as 23, which are molded, or extruded, or cut from a sponge material and have the shape of a split tube length, said members 23 being fixed on the inside wall of the elements or alternatively being fixed on moving partitions. For the smallest of said cylindrical objects, in particular various pharmaceutical ampoules, it is preferable to fix the same on the periphery of a drum 24 which is rotatable under the action of a knurled knob 25 and is adapted to comprise a plurality of such ampoules which are all easily visible and accessible. Moreover, the central portion of said drum 24- may be recessed and used to provide for the sliding motion of a cylindrical drawer 26 which terminates at the knob 21 and may contain various bottles or any other objects.

Some objects, in particular those having a parallelepiped configuration, may be also fixed-in place by thin strips, made from a vinyl compound for example, like those represented at 27 in FIG. 2. Each strip 27 made either integral or into two pieces is fixed to the wall of the element and surrounds the object to be maintained thereby. The ends of said strip may overlap each other and insure the fixation of the object through a mere surface tension effect.

In order to divide the storing space, partitions may be obtained directly by molding in two directions parallel to the direction of the molding, such as shown at 28, particularly in FIG. 2. The realization of some storing housings may also be anticipated by means of inserts.

Finally, in particularly within element 3, there may be added intermediary moving shelves such as shown at 29 in FIG. 5. In other casse, it is possible to constitute the element 3 so that it may be opened along its both faces, the intermediary partition being then stationary.

According to an essential feature of this invention, there will be seen, in particularly in FIGS. 2 and 6, that the medical lighting device 30 of the Clar mirror type, is fixed through the resiliency of its headband against a transparent portion 31 of the wall and is supplied with electrical energy by means of a dry cell unit 32 controlled by an actuating button 33 which extends through a wall of part 5 so as to be actuatable from the outside. Thus, it is possible, without having to open the whole of the kit to put on the light of this lighting device which, besides its normal use, becomes in this manner usable during the travel of the practitioner in order to illuminate dark areas.

It is also recommended, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, to add a sliding split device constituted by two cradles 34 and 35 having a perpendicular dihedral profile, assembled by means of slideways 36 and 37 and capable to be fixed exteriorly at or interiorly in the corner of element 3, as shown in FIG. 6, or alternatively along elements 1 or 2 in the case where such elements are used alone. In order to use said splints, they are removed from their location and caused to slide one upon the other up to the desired length before placing them under the limb which is broken or is to be secured against motion in view of a perfusion.

Thus, it can be seen that the kit according to the present invention constitutes a homogeneous unit easily transportable and capable to be readily handled, and which allows the practitioner to have at hand all the objects, instruments, products or apparatus which he needs in all circumstances, and to display the same to him in a manner perfectly visible and easy to grasp, as it is clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. In particular, it is convenient to equip the element 1 with all that is necessary for a diagnosis, the element 2 with all that is necessary for an urgent therapeutics (particularly instruments and products for injections), and the various interchangeable elements 3 with the outfits corresponding to various specialties or to dilterent kinds of medical or surgical treatments.

It is to be understood that the above described embodiment has by no means a limitative character and that it may be brought thereto any desirable changes without falling outside of the scope of the present invention, as defined in the appended claims. In particular, it is evident that, while said embodiment relates to a kit for a medical or surgical use, it applies as well to kits susceptible to receive other contents but having the same characteristics.

What we claim is:

1. A multi-unit knit of the type comprising a plurality of containers and a handle, each container being fitted inwardly with retaining means for holding individual articles, and outwardly with attaching means for connectmg any two of said containers together and with attaching means for the handle, said kit comprising a longitudinally extending cylinder rotatably mounted to rotate about its longitudinal axis in one of said containers, a plurality of article-holding means carried by and circumferentially spaced about said cylinder, and a part-cylindrical tray longitudinally slidable within said cylinder.

2. A multi-unit kit as claimed in claim 1 in which said cylindrical tray is also rotatably mounted Within said cylinder and terminates in a knob which projects beyond one of the short sides of said container, said knob being provided with a finger positioned to lock together the attaching means which connect the containers to each other and the attaching means which connect the handle to the kit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 941,608 Benson Nov. 30, 1909 1,084,360 Rahm Jan. 13, 1914 1,727,235 Joyse Sept. 3, 1929 1,736,651 Glaenzer Nov. 19, 1929 2,723,484 Nelson Nov. 15, 1955 2,858,957 Darrah Nov. 4, 1958 2,875,868 Powell Mar. 3, 1959 2,880,918 Schweikhard Apr. 7, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 410,802 Germany Mar. 5, 1925 7 64,661 Great Britain Dec. 19, 1956 

